Ari - The Empress

“Why are you trailing me?” Her voice filled the hallway; it was a strong and powerful tool for Ari.

Her head whipped around to met the curious eyes of Tobi Lomborte, cardholder of number nineteen called The Sun, age eighteen, Apprentice of Swords, and lacked the ability to really harness his power. If Ari recalled correctly he was a friend of that Annabelle brat, the one she picked a bone with earlier. A quick decision was made in the seconds that followed and Ari immediately turned on her feminine charms toward the newcomer. She slowly walked behind him and placed a single hand on one of his broad shoulders and squeezed it. Lucky for her she had decided to wear her favorite golden dress that revealed all her best… assests. Determined to succeed Ari leaned in closer to Tobi’s ear so that her breath tickled the back of his neck. In an absent-minded state she giggled because even for her this plan was a little too nice.

“Tobi,” She whispered, still in his ear. “I need you,” At this point she walked around to look him in the eyes and poked his chest and left her left, index finger there. With a special nod to her heels she was taller than him so she looked down into his eyes with passion. “To do me a favor. Really, it’s nothing!” Ari slid her finger down from his upper body to his torso where she hooked her fingers into the loops of his jeans to pull him closer to her. A move, which Ari daringly decided to do, that had worked many times for her in the past. She let him soak in all the words that she laid upon him before she opened her mouth again.

“Look your friend, Annabeth, is it?” Ari’s right hand twirled in air as if she were trying to recall a thought she lost. “I need you to ask her to dance and then accidentally drop her in front of everybody!” Despite what she just requested her voice sounded way too cheery especially at the ‘drop her’ part. “I’ll even put in a good word with Marcus, get you up to that Adept status I know you’re eager to get to…” She had now officially baited him. She didn’t want to be rejected so instead gave him a chance to put thought into what he was going to do. Ari turned her back towards the Apprentice and was on her way before he chose to follow her around like a lost puppy. Hopefully Tobi knew what was best for him because if he didn’t go along with her plan, well, she had a plan for him, which didn’t end well for him. She trotted towards Camellia’s room where she came to a stop outside her doorway.

“He isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed but he isn’t half bad looking.”

A confused, yet all too curious Ari stood in the doorway with a raised eyebrow in Camellia’s direction. Camellia de Telarius, one of the four de Telarius siblings and the only girl. She resided as her sole Adept in the Intelligence Sector, well, the only one she liked. She was the cardholder of number twenty, Judgment, and 3+ years Ari’s senior in terms of years in the Famiglia and age. Lost in thought Ari found it weird that so far she had encountered numbers seventeen through twenty today. Camellia’s beauty was quite clearly radiant and Ari in particular had held a dislike for Camellia in that sense. While trapped in her mindset she had totally forgot to knock outside of Camellia’s doorway.

“Geez, you scared me, Ari, thought you wanted to kill me…” The kindness in her voice made Ari sick to her stomach, she never got why she was always happy. The world was a horrid place and to have survived one must be cruel.

An urge to reach out and touch Camellia’s seemingly soft, strawberry-blonde hair came over Ari. Instead she stared at the Arcana Mark that claimed territory on Camellia’s shoulder blade, which Ari grunted at because even it was perfect! Her eyes lowered a bit before Ari took in that fact that Camellia was nude, she tugged on her own clothing to make sure it was still there. A moment before she thought the power of beauty and seductiveness had washed over her body but now Camellia sucked it all away. Her arms fell to her stomach where she hoped she concealed any self-consciousness she had down there.

“Camellia, hurry up, we a mission,” Her sour mood was naturally represented in the harsh tone she took with her subordinate. It soon multiplied while she took in more and more of the sight that stood before her. This was not a formal mission such as earlier when they did the Swords work for them but more like to make Annabelle’s life hell. She eased her jealousy as she turned her back towards Camellia with a frown planted on her face. Ari pretended to fiddle with something nearby as she waited on her right hand to get dressed. “Remember, pick something cute, it’s the ball and maybe you’ll get a guy to look at you twice.”

As soon as Camellia finished Ari shoved her out the door she hoped by doing this she wouldn’t be able to add anything to her already stunning outfit. A familiar voice greeted them from behind and Ari hated the sound of this voice in particular. She turned around with a fake smile, which turned into a roaring laugh.

“Are you not able to afford clothes? Dear God, Camellia let’s take this as an example of what not to look for in a man,” Ari clasped her hand over her mouth after her statement to stifle her laughter. “You need someone with more… Just more everything.” Something strange happened when these two got together especially the way they looked at each other. Ari was firm with Camellia that she was not to spend more time than needed with men who rather have their swords shined than shine her shoes. Annoyed with his sudden appearance Ari spun around and yanked Camellia's clothing to signal their departure. When she noticed that Camellia wasn’t right beside her as she expected her to be her heels stomped into the floor.

“Camellia, are you coming or not? And, no, Aerous you’re not invited to walk with us.”